Tracpipe bonding?

[sixty4]

Used tracpipe for my garage gas heater. The inspector said it needs to be bonded. Why would a grounding rod not work slammed into the ground? Whats the differance between grounding and bonding?

 

[larry_g]

Bonding connects all nonpowered conductive surfaces together so that ther is no potential difference between any conductive materials. Grounding brings the reference to ground potential. However if you have two conductors grounded in difference places then there MAY be a difference in potential between them. So all items that are conductive should be bonded together and then grounded in one spot.

This opinion comes to you free of charge and is worth what you have paid for it.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[cowboyjosh]

GOOGLE "CSST FIRES" or "CSST LIGHTNING STRIKE" and you'll have your answer why it needs bonding. There were class action lawsuits a couple years back over this inferior material as well; and talk of more litigation as failures are still occurring even when proper bonding is achieved. I personally hate CSST, had a bad incident on a customers house with the stuff and I will not use it any longer; actually a plumber and I who had been my sub for years refused to black iron houses any longer, he switched exclusively to CSST and we parted ways over it.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

You should have received a book from the manufactuer of your CSST and been trained and qualified on it before you were sold any CSST or fittings. If you go back where you bought it, they will have the book you need to study to see what the requirements are. It will show you how to bond the CSST to meet code, and everything else you are supposed to know before you make your first joint.

I personnally haven't seen any problems with CSST when it is properly installed. That being said, it doesn't have the long history of safe use that black pipe has, and I've seen and heard of several problems with botched installations.

Phil

 

[larry_g]

http://hawkeyehomeinspects.com/documents/CSST-DANGERS.pdf

I went looking after the above two posts and found the link above. Interesting stuff.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[cowboyjosh]

You should have received a book from the manufactuer of your CSST and been trained and qualified on it before you were sold any CSST or fittings. If you go back where you bought it, they will have the book you need to study to see what the requirements are. It will show you how to bond the CSST to meet code, and everything else you are supposed to know before you make your first joint.

I personnally haven't seen any problems with CSST when it is properly installed. That being said, it doesn't have the long history of safe use that black pipe has, and I've seen and heard of several problems with botched installations.

Phil

Lots of fires in Fishers, Indiana related to CSST failures. I think WTHR in Indianapolis and their sister station WBNS in Columbus, Ohio did a sweeps story about the fires related to CSST as did Good Morning America.

 

[cowboyjosh]

Heres a relatively recent CSST fire story and another link with some bonding info. CSST= Scary stuff.
http://www.vafirenews.com/2010/05/house-struck-by-lightning-gas-line-ruptured/
http://www.iaei.org/magazine/?p=4186